Five Years Jail

for Union Organising in South Korea

Han Sang Gyun was arrested in late

December 2015 following large working class
demonstrations in the weeks before. These
demonstrations were in opposition to the
Korean governments new Labour Laws.
These laws are designed to weaken the power
of unions and decrease job security for
workers.
Han SangGyun was not the only one arrested.
More than 500 KCTU members have been
summoned by police for their participation in
these rallies. Thirteen have so far been
convicted and sentenced to between eight to
18 months in prison. Other high profile arrests
include Bae Taesun, KCTU Executive director
of organization department, and Cho Sung
deok, Korean Public Service and Transport
Workers Union (KPTU) Vice President.
On the 4th of July, 2016 Hang Sanggyun was
jailed for five years for his part in organising
these demonstrations. This is not the first time
he has been jailed for trade union activities as
he has a long and proud history as a labour
activist.
In early October, Han Sang Gyun was chosen
as the recipient of the 2016s Freedom from
Fear Award from the UNI Global Union, an
international union federation.
Large scale protests by Korean workers have
continued in the second half of 2016.
Han's sentence represents a clear
criminalisation of legitimate protest and is
aimed at weakening the powerful Korean
workers movement. This will allow employers
to increase precarious employment contracts,
make workers work for longer, for less pay and
in unsafe working conditions.
All this is part of a global offensive by capital
against workers. The aim is to make workers
pay for the ongoing economic crisis and to
increase profits for companies and capitalists.
To defeat this offensive, workers have to join
together globally. Only by coordinating
struggles and campaigns at an international
level will workers be able to defeat this
offensive.
We are campaigning for his release.
We demand the dropping of charges against
Han Sang Gyun and all other arrested labour
activists in South Korea.

what you can do

Send an email/letter of solidarity to the KCTU
14th Fl. Kyunghyang Daily News Bldg.
22 Jeongdong, Junggu, Seoul, Korea 100702
inter@kctu.org
Write to Sangkyun in prison c/o KCTU
Write email/letter to the South Korean
President
President Ms. Park Geunhye
Cheongwadae, Sejongro No. 1
Jongnogu, Seoul 110820
Republic of Korea
president@president.go.kr
foreign@president.go.kr
Pass a motion at your workplace and get
your union to endorse it
Organise a solidarity action in support of
Sangkyun or participate in the action for the
Global Day to Stop the Repression Against
Unionists. The Melbourne event will be held at
5.30pm Wed 16 November at the 8 Hour
Monument, cnr Victoria and Lygon opposite
Trades Hall.

australia asia worker links workers change the world

po box 45 carlton south victoria 3053 australia
tel: + 61 3 9663 7277 email: aawl@aawl.org.au web: aawl.org.au
abn: 82 920 590 967 inc assn vic: A0001318V aawl november 2016

Sample Union Motion

Workers continually face companies that in order
to increase their profits want us to work harder,
for longer, for less, and in unsafe workplaces.
Unionists
industrial
strikes,
solidarity
offence.

must be able to resist this and take

action, including strikes, sitdown
picket lines, demonstrations and
actions. To organise is not a criminal

Our union demands that Han Sang Kyun, and

other imprisoned South Korean trade unionists,
be released immediately.

Sample letter to KCTU

Dear comrades,
We are aware that comrade Han Sang Gyun,
President of the Korean Confederation of Trade
Unions (KCTU), was given a five year jail
sentence in July of 2016.
Hang Sang Gyun has a proud history of fighting
for workers rights, including the Ssangyong
Motor Car Company occupation in 2009. He has
been jailed before for his staunch defence of
workers rights.
Han Sang Gyun crime was for organising
demonstrations and stopping road traffic in late
2015.
We need to defend the right of all workers and
genuine unions to organise, protest and take
industrial
action. We strongly condemn
comrade Hans imprisonment, and we demand
his immediate release.
Please let Han Sang Gyun know about our
support and solidarity for him, as well as to the
other imprisoned trade unionists.

Sample letter to the

President of South Korea
To the South Korean President,
We, the undersigned, are writing to express our
concern at your labour law reforms that will
seriously undermine the rights of workers and
their trade unions.
These labour reforms will reduce payment for
overtime work on days off, would permit
temporary agency work in basic manufacturing
(which has been illegal to date) and would lower
the level of unemployment compensation for
workers in lowwage shortterm jobs.
In addition, we are calling for the immediate
release of Han Sang Gyun, President of the
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU),
and other imprisoned union officials, who have
been imprisoned these year for the sole reason
of defending the rights of workers.
These arrests represent a serious attack on the
right to freedom of association and to bargain
collectively in South Korea.

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